"Admission was free."

Translation: Der Eintritt war kostenlos.

[ohookins]

Is "Der" really necessary here?

[brasil2004]

Yes!
Colloquially, even without "Der".
But is not absolutely correct.

[amuroruma]

why not "Die Aufnahme war kostenlos"?

[dpelisek]

Anyone can answer magarik's question, please? After three years "Die Aufnahme war kostenlos" is still not accepted. Thanks!

[CraigTedma]

I believe "Aufnahme" can mean admission in the sense of admission to a hospital or university. I don't think you would use "Aufnahme" for admission to a show or event, which seems to be the implication here.

[Alpog]

"Gratis" was rejected, is this a mistake?

[mfgbkk]

In German "der Eintritt ist frei" and you can get "ein Getränk gratis" as well.

[Alpog]

So, "gratis" is only for 'things', like products? Whereas a service, like admission to a museum, would use "frei" or "kostenlos"?

[mfgbkk]

At least this is how i use it. Other people might use different expressions. However, "der Eintritt ist frei" is more like a fix idiomatic expression. A drink can be "frei" or "gratis". Like you said a thing can be "gratis". But "frei" und "kostenlos" are also OK.

[Alpog]

Okay, danke sehr!

[CraigTedma]

For "Admission costs a lot", "Der Zugang kostet viel" was accepted, but here, for "Admission was free" , "Der Zugang war kostenlos" was rejected.. I guess you have to pay if you want to use "Zugang" for "Admission".